West Country comedian Russell Howard stormed the stage in the centre of the Royal Albert Hall, amid fireworks raining down from its historic ceiling.

This set the scene for a roaring show during which he covered the big issues of the day, including Trump, Brexit and online porn, alongside anecdotes of life with his rather kooky family from Bristol.

It was great to watch him in his stride, having witnessed his meteoric rise to fame over the last decade.

His impressive ten-day stint at the Royal Albert Hall is the longest ever consecutive run of dates by a performer at the venue. It’s followed by a brief UK tour before he jettisons off on his ‘biggest ever’ world tour, taking him to Dubai, US and Canada, Australasia, and even a date to be confirmed in China.

He’s not so baby faced anymore, smoothly tackling the big issues such as those covered in his smash hit BBC TV show Russell Howard’s Good News.

Teresa May, Donald Trump and Joey Essex were all in his firing line, and his take on the pervasive impacts of online porn on teenagers’ lives was expertly executed. Having recently experienced the death of his grandparents, jokes about his family had extra gravitas. The 36-year-old Bristolian is growing up. Although the jibes at his younger brother, reportedly in the audience, were still consistent and refreshingly juvenile.

As a first-timer to the Royal Albert Hall this gig was turned into an ideal short break in the beautiful Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, one of the most gentile and laid back of the London boroughs.

It’s also crazy close to Paddington train station – a mere short and delightful walk through Kensington Gardens away. A direct train took less than three-and-a-half hours and we were as good as door-to-door Devon to one of the world’s most iconic theatres. And taking the train meant, of course, those beautiful coastal views along the Teignmouth and Dawlish stretch, with a pleasant cup of tea and even free Wifi for the times in between window gazing. Far more relaxing than the motorway.

Russell’s still in the country until mid April, then he’s off to Dubai on the first leg of his ‘round the world’ trip. I, for one, am intrigued to see what he comes back with.